Digital Versus On-Paper Practice for Mastering and Applying Lewis Structures in Chemistry
Vuocolo, L., Gadgil, S., Weinberg, J., & C. Hershock
Drawing Lewis structures as models to represent molecules’ bonding of atoms by sharing electrons provides the necessary foundation for learning additional molecular properties and concepts in introductory chemistry. We investigated how providing practice on Lewis structures using the app/web platform, Chem101, compares to practice drawing on paper. After all Fall 2017 students completed a pre-test and received a subsequent lecture/demonstration on Lewis structures, some students were assigned to draw structures on Chem101, while the rest completed the same exercise on paper. Post-test results showed that all students improved significantly with an average gain of 6%. Practicing with Chem101 was just as effective as the drawing on paper practice. A similar study design was completed in Spring 2018. The results of performance on structure drawing and its transfer to other concepts on a post-test, and on longer-term retention on subsequent course examinations, will be presented.
Leonard Vuocolo, Chemistry MCS
Soniya Gadgil, Eberly Center Provost’s Office
Justin Weinberg
Chad Hershock, Eberly Center Provost’s Office
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